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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: pz who wrote (55831)	12/1/1999 10:49:00 PM
From: Heretic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Wed, 1 Dec 1999, 6:11pm EST Global Marine, Noble Shares Rise on Oil and Merger Speculation Houston, Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Global Marine Inc. and Noble Drilling Corp. shares rose on speculation that the two Companies might merge and optimism higher crude prices will increase profits for the oil drillers. Shares of Noble Drilling, the eighth-largest U.S. oil drilling company, rose 2 11/16, or 9.6 percent, to 30 9/16 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Global Marine, the second-largest U.S. oil drilling company, rose 1 1/4, or 8.2 percent, to 16 9/16. The Standard & Poor's Midcap Oil & Gas Drilling Equipment & Service Index of 10 stocks rose 25, or 8 percent, to 350.7. ``The whole group is moving up because oil prices are up, though rumors of mergers are also driving both Global Marine and Noble's stock prices,' said Lewis Kreps, a Frost Securities analyst. Kreps said he did not know if the speculation was valid. Last December both Global Marine and Noble said they were seeking merger partners. Global Marine declined to comment on the speculation, and Noble officials could not be reached for comment. Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 41 cents to $25 a barrel after an American Petroleum Institute report yesterday showed U.S. crude oil inventories fell 3.6 million barrels, or 1.2 percent, during the week ended Nov. 26. Noble Drilling has said it wants to buy another drilling company in 18 months to help it compete for business. Global Marine has said it was aggressively seeking merger partners. Both companies are based in Houston. ¸ Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.